Risk Reduction Program 

Executive Summary 

Current regulations, safety rules, regulatory compliance, rules compliance, and employee 

disciplinary policies are considered important and effective minimum standards of the 

overall safety system in the U.S. rail industry. However, because of the punitive, 

disciplinary and often blame-oriented nature inherent within such a system, any 

individual component of traditional rule-based systems has the potential to foster 

widespread fear of punishment or reprisal and may actually suppress the honest and 

accurate reporting of important precursor events to an accident. When this occurs, 

accident risk increases because important safety critical information that could have 

prevented future accidents from occurring is being withheld. To the extent this occurs on 

a widespread basis, the structural integrity of the regulatory and compliance-oriented 

framework may be compromised and serve as an inherent barrier to further improvements 

in safety. Risk-based approaches present an opportunity to protect the minimum standard 

created by regulations while at the same time creating an environment that values and 

encourages the adoption of supplemental risk reduction programs. By utilizing both the 

traditional regulatory standards with risk based approaches, we have the opportunity to 

change the current railroad culture from one of distrust to one of mutual cooperation, at 

least in the regards to true safety improvements. 

Since 2005, the railroad industry has already hired over 40,000 new employees, with 

another 40,000 expected to be hired in the next 3 years. Such a massive influx of new 

employees brings an opportunity for fresh ideas to improve safety. In addition, safety 

statistics indicate current safety systems have more or less reached the limits of their 

effectiveness. For these reasons, FRA believes that an important opportunity now exists 

to implement industry-wide changes that could significantly reduce accidents in the 

railroad industry. 

What is the Risk Reduction Program? 

The Risk Reduction Program (RRP) is an FRA-led industry-wide initiative to reduce 

accidents and injuries, and build strong safety cultures, by developing innovative 

methods, processes, and technologies to identify and correct individual and systemic 

contributing factors using “upstream” predictive data. 

Using voluntary, non-regulatory approaches, RRP will incorporate precursor data 

management and confidential reporting systems to better identify and proactively correct 

individual and systemic factors that contribute to accidents. It is proactive – rather than 

reactive – because it encourages prevention of accidents. The essential ingredients of the 

proposed approach include developing knowledge of precursors to actual accidents, 

confidential reporting, effective problem analysis, and corrective actions. The adoption of 

new non-regulatory approaches creates the opportunity for accelerated improvement, but 

does not supersede current regulatory approaches. This combination of traditional 
regulatory activities and enhanced non-regulatory approaches will allow FRA, the 

railroads, labor groups, and other stakeholder groups to make more rapid progress in 

achieving their safety missions. 

 

Regulations necessarily tend to involve specification of engineering and in some cases 

procedure-based risk management measures. However, the effectiveness of such systems 

ultimately depends on the organizational systems that support safety. Organizational 

systems such as those used for performance management, staff development, etc., and the 

culture that makes such systems effective are at the core of safety excellence. This aspect 

of safety, which is where safety directly interacts with fundamental organizational 

management, cannot be solely dictated by regulation. Rather it must be encouraged 

through establishing an environment favorable to safety-supporting cultures. 

What would RRP entail? 

As a significant component of the non-regulatory approach, voluntary risk reduction 

projects will target operations, equipment or systems that pose a risk to operational & 

personnel safety and will establish pilot projects that effectively prevent an accident or 

incident. The FRA will assist those who wish to participate in establishing pilot projects 

that will be used to identify and address risk including measurable goals & reporting 

processes. The FRA will also work with the industry to identify current programs that 

are successfully reducing risk. The FRA will compile the information and disseminate 

the lessons learned nationwide. Successful pilot projects may develop into nationwide 

programs. 

FRA envisions a wide variety of projects that could fit under the RRP umbrella. Some 

examples include the close call reporting systems, peer observation programs, 

management development systems, the Collision Hazard Analysis currently in place on 

some commuter railroads. In addition, use of the Track Quality Index for predictive 

maintenance or capital investment and use of wayside equipment monitors and sensors. 

In fact, any innovative use of predictive data could be seen as a potential pilot. 

Creating data collection and risk -based safety systems that make precursor data more 

readily available affords a better understanding of the systemic contributors to accidents 

and why those accidents occur.. FRA recognizes that there may be a need to incorporate 

waivers or formal Memoranda of Understanding. 

Successful pilots will incorporate a number of criteria that include the following; 

1. Commitment from all stakeholders 

2. Voluntary, confidential, non-punitive participation 

3. Systematic and objective data gathering, analysis, and reporting 

4. Problem solving and corrective action 

5. Long-term sustaining mechanisms 
Where do we go from here? 

Initially, the Risk Reduction Program will be composed of a set of pilot projects targeting 

specific risk categories in limited studies. FRA will work with railroad, labor, and other 

interested organizations that volunteer to conduct pilot projects. FRA will coordinate the 

project development, oversee project implementations, and evaluate the projects to 

determine the effectiveness of countermeasures and corrective actions taken. FRA will 

then disseminate information about successful pilot projects to encourage more widescale adoption of effective risk reduction solutions. Finally, FRA will support the 

adoption of some pilot projects on a nationwide scale. 

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